Feeling The Burn: Working Out In Stilettos with Bethenny Frankel

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To promote her new Skinnygirl Daily line of fitness-conscious (but yummy and sane) products—including vitamin packets, high-protein power bars, a light cleanse, plus hair, nail and energy supplements in powder form—former Real Housewives of New York star-turned-Skinnygirl mogul Bethenny Frankel hosted a "Pumped in Pumps" workout, and I went, and now my ass hurts. The end. Just kidding!

As we slip on our stilettos and mill around the Midtown dance studio waiting for the class to begin, it becomes apparent that some of us are more comfortable in heels than others. Some of us are striding like gazelles in 6-inch-heeled sparkly gold club footwear. Others are waddling around in their black Tahari "interview heels," which, during one of their only trips out of the closet, nearly caused her to trip on a subway grate and fall on top of a Cookie Monster mascot in Times Square. Luckily, the NDG Stiletto Fitness workout bills itself not only as a great way to tone up, but a good way to become more comfortable in your highest heels.

And then Bethenny Frankel comes out. The best way to describe Bethenny Frankel in person is that she's petite but compact. She's wearing shiny red Manolos that could take an eye out. She also has an unexpectedly killer sense of humor: at one point, she's asked by another reporter if she has any body icons, "dead or alive." Everybody giggles at the odd phrasing. Without missing a beat, Bethenny replies, "Tupac Shakur."

Tonight's heel fitness extravaganza is being led by Nicole Damaris, the mastermind behind the Stiletto Workout. Her butt is insane. After five minutes of the routine, with house music blaring in the background, it's easy to see why. This workout is no joke. Although the moves are mostly simple, simply maintaining your balance in the heels during the workout requires a centering and compressing of your core. And the high-kicking in all directions – with toes pointed so as not to lose your shoe or smack a fellow woman in the head with it – works your derriere until it burns with the passion of a 19th century Russian novel.

Midway through the workout, everyone has their game faces on. I appear to be the only one goofing off, unable to stop giggling as I rep it out. Then I notice Bethenny is too! And I feel validated. After the 30-minute workout, we're all sweating. Pardon me, "glowing." Because that's what women do, right?

Then we sit down, sip on Skinnygirl smoothies, and get the skinny from Bethenny on her own diet and fitness regimen. These days, Bethenny's fitness jam is only two or three days a week, mainly yoga, walks on the beach, and the occasional class with Metamorphosis guru Tracy Anderson.

"Women tend to be extreme and obsessive about working out," she says. "They do it every day for awhile, and then they drop off. That is why I wrote Naturally Thin, because I wanted to get rid of that obsessiveness, that noise and belief that on Tuesday some diet book is going to tell you to have an egg white omelet. If you want cake on a Tuesday morning, you should have cake and then have a salad for lunch. If you really want something, you should have it. It's like shopping: If you buy something really expensive, then next time buy nothing or buy something really sensible."

In her younger days, she also fell prey to this all-or-nothing mentality. She tried it all—the Cabbage Soup diet, various detoxes, even something called "the Stewardess diet" that consisted of bizarre, unhealthy and specific foods each day e.g. a hot dog and one scoop of vanilla ice cream. (She rolls her eyes: "Like someone basically just got high and invented this diet. I think they're all stupid.") But whenever she missed a day or two of exercise or skipped a day of dieting, she'd fall off completely and binge: "Now I really have to ruin myself."

As she got older and started raising a kid of her own, she realized that it wasn't deprivation, but moderation that was the key to fitness: "We should learn how to allow." While she doesn't necessarily stand behind the Gwyneth Paltrow-style restrictive diet parenting, she cooks healthier versions of old standards for her daughter: butternut squash and whole-wheat in Mac and Cheese dinner, for example.

So take a cue from Bethenny Frankel and have some cake for breakfast. I know I will.